The Forest and the Walks

We have identified nine separate walks, all easily reached in a day from the house and each one demonstrating fascinating and different features. Here is a brief description of each. We do not let visitors go into the forest unattended as it is painfully easy to get lost!

Walks 1 and 2 are easy going and suitable for acclimatising during the first couple of days. Walking through regrowth forest we see many terrestrial species like Cyclopogon Oncidium blanchetii and the plants that grow with them: the Philodendrons. club mosses and bromeliads. These habitats are constantly changing as terrestrial growing orchids gradually adopt an epiphytic habit as the canopy of the regrowth forest slowly closes over.

Walk 3 is not completely cut out as yet. It includes another successful reintroduction experiment where flask grown plants Oncidium blanchetii and Laelia cinnabarina have grown and spread and are now successfully seeding and producing new colonies. On the steep sides of the hill many orchid species are found growing as terrestrials like Habenaria, Encyclias, Epidendrums and the magnificent but ephemeral Cleistes species.

Walk 4 refers to the 'park' described earlier and there must be about 60 orchid species to find in this area. Some like Maxillaria cerifera, one will always find in flower. while others like Sophronitis coccinea and Maxillaria picta, are strictly seasonal.

Walk 5 takes us through 35-year-old regrowth with large epiphytic colonies and fascinating single terrestrial colonies of showy species like Oncidium ramosum, the clove-scented Houlettia brocklehurstiana and Epidendrum saxatile. Here also is another fascinating reintroduction experiment. More Laelia crispa plants were relocated in this regrowth and they have thrived on rotting trees. They have also set fruits every year, showing that they are visited by natural pollinators. However, not a single seedling has yet been found which shows that in regrowth forest a vital factor is missing which is essential for seedling growth. A steep drop brings us out onto the municipal dirt road and a gentle uphill walk home.

Walk 6. This is the first real dive into original forest with glimpses of Miltonia cuneata from the high trees and Pabstia jugosa from the dark, dripping rock faces. We climb up to the ridge tops and see the tiny twig epiphyte, Capanemia thereziae, Epidendrum xanthinum with thick shoots like asparagus, the terrestrials Cyclopogon and Prescottia and minute Phymatidium species.

Walk 7. This is the forest experience and takes us through the deep. peaceful original forest where there are a few dark-tolerant orchids but most are in the tree tops. However, fallen trees and branches are common and one can get a picture of what is living up there in the canopy. We walk up the valley and on to the ridges which form the natural borders to the properties and so are always kept open. On these ridges, the trees are stunted and the orchids on them are at eye level. This is the natural home of the stunning scarlet flowered Sophronifis coccinea which blooms in October and November, setting the branches aflame with their flowers. Among them too you will find Oncidiums, Neogardneria, Encylias, some species of Epidendrum and many tiny miniatures growing on the twigs of shrubs.

Walk 8 overlaps with 7 to some extent but has a very special feature. This is the bromeliad garden; an area of huge bromeliads of the genus Quesnelia which has sharp toothed margins to the leaves. These hold a lot of water in their centres and so, during dry periods, they boost the humidity so creating the perfect atmosphere for orchids to flourish. On the trees above this moist garden you will see the superb Scuticaria hadwenii, colonies of Encyclia vespa, many Pleurothallids, more Sophronitis and much, much more. But the real feature is to see the bromeliad garden and to understand how much these plants create the perfect atmosphere for orchids both as terrestrials and in the tree tops as epiphytes.

Walk 9. This is a longer trek but is almost all downhill. It starts through the same original forest as the previous two and then takes a long, gentle amble down the mountain sides. Here it is interesting to see how the areas where orchids grow are in distinct zones. You can walk for half an hour and see no orchids, then suddenly come across an area that is stuffed with them. Here you will see Bifrenaria atropurpurea, the crocus orchid with its deep magenta flowers in dense clusters. Here, too, is the 'largest orchid in the world' according to Steve Manning, referring to enormous colonies of Octomeria gracilis with perhaps ten thousand stems. Look carefully on the ground and you may see one of the many, well camouflaged terrestrial species of Cyclopogon, Pelexia or Erythrodes which are so difficult to distinguish from the leaf litter.

Click here for a typical day at RAFT